Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Robert Culp, best known as Kelly Robinson in the '60s TV show I Spy and more recently as Warren Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond, has died.

The 79-year-old actor was rushed to Queen of Angels Hospital on Wednesday morning after falling outside his Hollywood home, authorities said. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Culp suffered a blow to the head after falling while taking a walk and was found by a jogger who called 911. Paramedics, patrol officers and detectives responded to the scene. A preliminary investigation found that "his death is accidental and there appears to be no sign of foul play," police Lt. Bob Binder tells the Times.

A native of Oakland, Calif., Culp rose to fame playing a secret agent in I Spy, a show that co-starred Bill Cosby and helped break the color barrier in Hollywood. Off-screen, too, Culp became involved with civic causes, most recently opposing construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Besides his TV work, Culp is also known for memorable movie parts, such as Wild Bill Hickok in The Raiders, playing the fiancé of Jane Fonda in the romantic comedy Sunday in New York, and he went on to star in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Italian actress of the '50s and '60s Lauretta Masiero died March 23 in a Rome hospital of Alzheimer's. She was 81. Lauretta was born on October 25, 1929 in Venice, Italy. She worked with such stars as Totò, Ugo Tognazzi, Dorelli, Raimondo Vianello and Oreste Lionello. She later entered television in such series as “The Adventures of Laura Storm” “The Musichiere” and “Canzonissima”. In the theater she received rave reviews for her appearances with Ernesto Calindri, Volonghi Linen, Arnoldo Foà, Andreina Pagnani, Garinei and Giovannini. Lauretta appeared in one early Eurowestern “Il bandolero stanco” (1952).

German actor Günter Grabbert died in Leipzig Germany on March 13, 2010. He was born on 1/15/1931 in Schwerin., Germany He studied drama in Weimar and became a member of the Leipzig Playhouse. He became a voice dubber and dubbed German voices including Daniel Michev for the 1970 East German western “Osceola”. Later he became reciter of poems and stories appearing with guitarist Franz Fröhlich.

Newbery medalist Sid Fleischman, a prolific author of more than 60 fiction and nonfiction books for children, died March 17 at his home in Santa Monica, CA, one day after turning 90.

In addition to winning the Newbery Medal for The Whipping Boy (Greenwillow, 1986), Fleischman’s works have garnered numerous awards. His favorite book, The Entertainer and the Dybbuk (Greenwillow, 2007), about an American soldier in post-World War II Europe possessed by the spirit of a dybbuk, won the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award. Humbug Mountain (Little Brown, 1978) won the 1979 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and was also a National Book Award finalist. Speaking about Humbug Mountain, children’s literary critic Anita Silvey said in her 100 Best Books for Children (Houghton Mifflin, 2004) that it “manages to combine history and adventure, a fast paced plot, and the essence of a western novel in a text that reads aloud beautifully.”

Fleischman was a teller of tall tales and a humorist who often set his stories in the American west or farm country. Author Jane Yolen, in her Twentieth Century Children’s Writers, said Fleischman had “made the particular voice of the tall tale so much his own that, if any one author could be said to be the master of the genre, it is he.”

The best example of this is seen in Fleischman’s "McBroom" series, which chronicles the impossible happenings of Josh, Melissa, and their 11 red-headed children on their Iowa farm. In addition, he wrote a number of nonfiction books based on famous people including, ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini (Greenwillow, 2006), The Trouble Begins at 8, A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West (Greenwillow, 2008), and his last book with HarperCollins, scheduled to be released in June, Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World. In an interview about the book, Fleischman says he has a theory about who Chaplin’s real father may have been.

Fleischman’s first book for children was Mr. Mysterious & Company (Little, Brown, 1962), which was written for his own children, who served as characters in the book. The Whipping Boy, which took 10 years to write, is about Jemmy, the whipping boy for Prince Brat, who run away together and have a prince and pauper experience. Trev Jones, SLJ’s book review editor, was chair of the Newbery Committee in 1987 when the book was selected for the honor. “Calling him with the news, I got his wife, who explained that he was in the shower,” says Jones, adding that she was always a fan of Fleischman’s books, dating back to her days as a children’s librarian who used to booktalk his McBroom series. “I told her I just had to talk to him right away, and that I’d call back. I guess I didn’t wait long enough. ‘How long does he shower?’ I asked in an exasperated voice. ‘Just who are you?’ she asked, totally puzzled.”

Jones also recalls the Newbery banquet in San Francisco that year when Fleischman broke with tradition and took a different approach to the receiving line. “He walked down the line, shaking everyone’s hand instead of waiting for everyone to approach him. I think it was the quickest receiving line in the history of the Newbery/Caldecott dinner. What a charming, gracious, and funny man.”

Albert Sidney Fleischman was born in Brooklyn on March 16, 1920 to Jewish immigrant parents. Early in his, life his family relocated to San Diego. As a teen during the depression, he became interested in magic and developed an act called the Mirthful Conjurers with his friend, Buddy Ryan, which they took on the road. It was during this time that the author wrote his first book about magic called Between Cocktails (Abbot Magic, 1939). He sold all rights to the book for $50, and it has never been out of print since.

In 1942, he married Betty Taylor who predeceased him. They had three children, Jane, Anne, and Paul, a poet, who also won the Newbery Medal in 1989 for his book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices (HarperCollins, 1988). To date, they are the only father and son to both receive the honor.

Actor Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone died Thursday at his home in the Santa Ynez Valley. He was 85.

His portrayal of frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone impacted millions of young viewers in the late 1950's and 60's.

Parker, who was also a major California winemaker and developer, died Thursday at his Santa Ynez Valley home, family spokeswoman Sao Anash said. His death came on the 84th birthday of his wife of 50 years, Marcella.

Anash said Parker was coherent and speaking with family just minutes before his death. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. The 6-foot, 6-inch Parker was quickly embraced by 1950s children as the man in a coonskin cap who stood for the spirit of the American frontier. Baby boomers gripped by the Crockett craze scooped up Davy lunch boxes, toy Old Betsy rifles, buckskin shirts and trademark fur caps. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" ("Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee...") was a No. 1 hit for singer Bill Hayes while Parker's own version reached No. 5. "Fess Parker has been a role model and idol of mine since I first saw him on the big screen - he is a true Hollywood legend," said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a statement. "As a talented actor and successful businessman, he was an inspirational Californian whose contributions to our state will be remembered forever."

Former first lady Nancy Reagan said Parker was "a longtime friend to Ronnie and me ... He will be greatly missed."

The first installment of "Davy Crockett," with Buddy Ebsen as Crockett's sidekick, debuted in December 1954 as part of the "Disneyland" TV show. The first three television episodes were turned into a theatrical film, "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier," in 1955. True to history, Disney killed off its hero in the third episode, "Davy Crockett at the Alamo," where the real-life Crockett died in 1836 at age 49. But spurred by popular demand, Disney brought back the Crockett character for some episodes in the 1955-56 season, including "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race." "Like many kids growing up in the '50s, Davy Crockett was my first hero, and I had the coonskin cap to prove it," said Disney CEO Bob Iger. "Fess Parker's unforgettable, exciting and admirable performance as this American icon has remained with me all these years, as it has for his millions of fans around the world. Fess is truly a Disney Legend, as is the heroic character he portrayed, and while he will certainly be missed, he will never be forgotten."

Parker's career leveled off when the Crockett craze died down, but he made a TV comeback from 1964-1970 in the title role of the TV adventure series "Daniel Boone" - also based on a real-life American frontiersman. Actor-singer Ed Ames, formerly of the Ames Brothers, played Boone's Indian friend, Mingo. After "Daniel Boone," Parker largely retired from show business, except for guest appearances, and went into real estate. "I left the business after 22 years," Parker told The Associated Press in 2001. "It was time to leave Hollywood. I came along at a time when I'm starting out with Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Sterling Hayden and Gregory Peck." "Who needed a guy running around in a coonskin cap?" he said.

Parker had made his motion picture debut in "Springfield Rifle" in 1952. His other movies included "No Room for the Groom" (1952), "The Kid From Left Field" (1953), "Them!" (1954), "The Great Locomotive Chase" (1956), "Westward Ho, the Wagons!" (1956), "Old Yeller" (1957) and "The Light in the Forest" (1958). Several of Parker's films, including "The Great Locomotive Chase" and "Old Yeller," came from the Disney studio. It was Parker's scene as the pilot who claimed his plane was buzzed by giant flying ants in the horror classic "Them!" that caught the attention of Walt Disney when he was looking for a "Davy Crockett" star. He chose Parker over another "Them!" actor, James Arness - who became a TV superstar in the long-running "Gunsmoke."

After departing Hollywood, Parker got into real estate with his wife, Marcella, whom he had married in 1960. He bought and sold property, built hotels (including the elegant Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn & Spa in Los Olivos and Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort Santa Barbara) and grew wine grapes on a 2,200-acre vineyard on California's Central Coast, where he was dubbed King of the Wine Frontier and coonskin caps enjoyed brisk sales. After its inaugural harvest in 1989, Parker's vineyard won dozens of medals and awards. The Parkers' son, Eli, became director of winemaking and their daughter, Ashley, also worked at the winery. Parker was a longtime friend of Ronald Reagan, whose Western White House was not far from the Parker vineyards. Reagan sent Parker to Australia in 1985 to represent him during an event, and when Parker returned he was asked by White House aide Michael Deaver if he was interested in being ambassador to that country. "In the end, I decided I'd better take myself out of it. But I was flattered," Parker said. Parker also once considered a U.S. Senate bid, challenging Alan Cranston. But Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt said it would be a rough campaign, and a key dissenter lived under the same roof. "My wife was not in favor," Parker said. "I'm so happy with what evolved."

Fess Elisha Parker Jr. was born Aug. 16, 1924, in Fort Worth, Texas - Parker loved to point out Crockett's birthday was Aug. 17. He played football at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene but was injured in a nearly fatal road-rage knifing in 1946. "There went my football career," Parker had said. He later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas. Parker was discovered by actor Adolphe Menjou, who was Oscar-nominated for "The Front Page" in 1931 and who was a guest artist at the University of Texas. Menjou urged him to go to Hollywood and introduced Parker to his agent.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Early Sunday, actor Peter Graves was found dead at his home, says a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department. Officer Karen Rayner said there was no sign of foul play in the actor's death.

Graves' publicist, Sandy Brokaw, says the actor died Sunday shortly after returning to his Los Angeles home from brunch with his family.

From 1960-1961, Graves starred as Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of the TV series "Whiplash." It centered on an American who arrived in Australia in the 1850s to establish the country's first stagecoach line.

Graves also appeared in such TV shows as "Court Martial," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "Route 66."

The 83 year-old actor is best known for his starring role on TV's "Mission: Impossible" as Jim Phelps for six seasons. In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to replace Steven Hill as the lead actor on the spy series. It centered the sometimes gruff leader of the Impossible Missions Force or IMF. The spy series ran on television from 1967-1973.

Graves also starred as Capt. Clarence Oveur in the 1980 movie spoof "Airplane!"

The actor is the younger brother of actor James Arness ("Gunsmoke").

Graves attended Southwest High School (Class of 1944) and the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Graves married Joan Endress in 1950. They had three daughters: Kelly, Claudia and Amanda, and six grandchildren.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tony Imi, who has died aged 72, was one of the British film industry’s leading cinematographers, amassing more than 100 film and television credits during a career spanning 50 years.

He began by lighting television films for Ken Loach and Tony Garnett, two of his most memorable films being the powerful Up the Junction (1965) and Cathy Come Home (1966). Broadcast on BBC1, both changed British public awareness on such questions as abortion and homelessness and are today regarded as milestones in a great era of television drama.

Full of Imi’s evocative images, Cathy Come Home focused on a young, homeless couple with children caught in a poverty trap, and included a memorable scene in which the family is forcibly evicted from its home by bailiffs. Imi’s 16mm gritty, black and white film was seen by more than 12 million viewers ; a British Film Institute poll in 2000 voted it the top film in the 100 greatest television programmes of all time.

His many feature films included The Slipper and the Rose (1976) and International Velvet (1978), both directed by Bryan Forbes; Breakthrough (1979), starring Richard Burton and Rod Steiger; The Sea Wolves (1980) with Gregory Peck, David Niven and Roger Moore; Buster (1988), with Phil Collins playing the eponymous Great Train robber; and, in the 1990s, a number of gritty British action films like Shopping (1994), with Jude Law, and Rancid Aluminium (2000) .

In 2001 he won the Best Cinematography award for Taliesin Jones (2000) at the Santa Monica Film Festival and received an American Society of Cinematographers’ nomination for his work on the miniseries Scarlett (1994) and a Bafta Best Video Lighting nomination for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982).

Anthony Imi was born on March 27 1937 in London, the eldest of two sons. Evacuated during the war to Chippenham, Wiltshire, he then rejoined his family and attended Cardinal Vaughan school in Holland Park.

On leaving school, Imi joined Fox Photos and then, following two years of National Service with the RAF and a short spell with the Mobil Oil Company, in the early 1960s he started his career in film and television as a trainee assistant projectionist at the BBC, working with film rushes, rough cuts and fine cuts. From there, he soon established himself as a film cameraman, working for the BBC until 1967.

He left the BBC and went freelance in 1968, principally to work as cinematographer on The Olympics in Mexico (1969). Thereafter, Imi worked on film or television productions, both at home and in many countries abroad, every year until 2010.

Asked about his approach to cinematography Imi once said: “I do my best work when I’m thinking on my feet. My philosophy is that I don’t want my work to intrude upon the story. If the story works, everything should work. You can’t really beautifully photograph a load of rubbish… well you can, but ultimately it means nothing.”

A former president of the British Society of Cinematographers (1982-84), Imi continued to serve on the board as a governor. He had a good sense of humour, and meetings would invariably begin with a joke. He worked tirelessly for all cinematographers throughout his career and lectured on a regular basis at various film schools around the country.

Tony Imi, who died on March 8, is survived by his wife, Marilyn, whom he married in 1961, and their son and daughter.

Paul Dunlap, a composer whose scores included such sci-fi and horror classics as "The Angry Red Planet" and "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," died of natural causes March 11 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 90.

Dunlap launched his film-scoring career with a 1950 Sam Fuller film, "The Baron of Arizona," and did four more for the director: "The Steel Helmet," "Park Row," "Shock Corridor" and "The Naked Kiss." But he was best known for his music for low-budget horror and sci-fi of the 1950s and 1960s including "Lost Continent," "Target Earth," "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," "Blood of Dracula" and "Frankenstein 1970."

His more than 100 films included a number of '50s Westerns such as "The San Francisco Story" and "The Oregon Trail," the John Wayne drama "Big Jim McLain" and several 1960s Three Stooges comedies including "The Three Stooges in Orbit," "The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze" and "The Outlaws Is Coming."

Dunlap was born in Springfield, Ohio, and studied with leading composers Arnold Schoenberg, Ernst Toch and Nadia Boulanger. His classical compositions included a piano concerto, a choral work entitled "Celebration" and an opera, "Elektra XI."

Dunlap worked briefly in television, scoring episodes of "Have Gun -- Will Travel," "Gunsmoke" and "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars," among other series.

In the late 1960s he composed music for "Operation CIA," "Destination Inner Space," "Cyborg 2087" and "Panic in the City." His last scores, both in 1980, were for the comedy "Gorp" and the TV documentary "Sharks: The Death Machine."

He is survived by a daughter. Donations may be made to the John Wayne Cancer Institute. A memorial is slated for Sunday at Joshua Tree Memorial Park.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) confirms that veteran sound editor Bill Wistrom died yesterday. He was 74 years old. He was in the business for some fifty-plus years, editing sound effects on such classic films as 'To Catch a Thief,' 'The Court Jester,' 'The Man Who Knew Too Much,' 'The Ten Commandments,' 'Funny Face,' 'Vertigo,' 'Hatari!,' 'The Nutty Professor,' and 'El Dorado.'

He was supervising sound editor on 'Bonanza' during the entire run of that show (1959-1973). He also supervised the sound editing on 'The High Chaparral' (1967-1971) and later worked on shows like 'The High Chaparral,' 'The Waltons,' 'Kojak,' and 'Falcon Crest.' Most recently, he has served as the supervising sound editor on all of the 'Star Trek' spin-off series: 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,' 'Star Trek: Voyager,' and 'Star Trek: Enterprise.'

Winstrom received 17 Emmy Award nominations throughout his entire career; he won six of them, four of which were for his work on 'Next Generation.' He also won Emmys for the 1979 TV movie 'Friendly Fire' and the 1982 TV movie 'Inside the Third Reich.' Some additional film credits include 'The Wind and the Lion,' 'The Muppet Movie,' 'Raise the Titanic,' and 'Silent Night, Deadly Night.' It seems he retired after 'Star Trek: Enterprise' was canceled in 2005. In 2008, the was award the Career Achievement Award by the MPSE.

Merlin Olsen, an NFL Hall of Famer who also became an actor and starred on "Little House on the Prairie" and "Father Murphy," died today in Los Angeles at 69, reports the Los Angeles Times. As recently as December, Olsen had sued NBC Studios and other companies claiming that exposure to asbestos he had had since he was about 10 resulted in his contracting mesothelioma, the Times reported.Olsen's acting career consisted of primarly positive roles and gentle souls. He played Jonathan Garvey, best friend to Michael Landon's Charles Ingalls on "Little House" in 51 episodes. And he played the lead role on "Father Murphy" for 31 episodes. The show was nominated for an Emmy in 1983 for "Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)." His most recent acting was in the series "Aaron's Way" in 1988. He played the head of an Amish family who moves from Pennsylvania to California to help the girlfriend of his son, killed in a surfing accident, and their baby run a winery.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Teresa Gutiérrez, one of the best known and beloved actresses of Colombian television, has died at the age of 81.

According to the national media her death was reported from natural causes at 2:20 p.m. at her home in Bogotá with her granddaughter Majida Issa.

The youngest son of the late actress, actor Miguel Varoni, confirmed her death upon his arrival in Bogota at 7:30 p.m. From Miami. Her funeral will be held tomorrow north of the capital.

Teresa Gutiérrez was born in 1928 in Bogotá . She was one of the first Colombian actresses characterized by both good and evil roles and an icon in Colombian television, for having participated in a large number of soap operas. She became know through her many roles as an evil grandmother who dominates everyone in the house. She started in show business as a radio announcer and later became an actress.

Gutiérrez was known as a television actress, but also appeared in films such as “Satanás” and “Muertos del Susto”.

Karl Malkames, a cinematographer, inventor, film historian and pioneering motion picture film preservationist, died March 8th at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y. He was 83 years old.

Mr. Malkames was born in Hazelton, PA. on May 6th, 1926 to veteran cameraman, Don Malkames and his then wife, Dorothy Klotz. His childhood was surrounded by and immersed in the trappings of the early motion picture industry. At the age of 16, he enlisted in the Navy and thus followed a stint at Pearl Harbor and service as an electronics technician aboard the submarine, U.S.S. Chopper. On June 6, 1948 he married his high school sweetheart, June Dougherty of Hazelton, PA.

Upon his release from the Navy, he followed in his father's footsteps and embarked on a career in motion pictures, serving as an assistant cameraman - often to his father - working his way up to becoming a cinematographer and a member of the American Society of Cinematographers. Probably his most rewarding period behind the camera was as a staff cameraman for Warner-Pathe News - a position he held till the newsreel folded in 1956, a casualty of the advent of television. His assignments behind the camera were numerous and varied - providing second unit photography to such productions as the 1958 Robert Mitchum drive-in classic THUNDER ROAD (executing all the memorable car chase sequences) as well as work on specialty assignments such as 'old age' make-up tests of Dustin Hoffman for his fabled role in 1970's LITTLE BIG MAN.

However it was his work in the then new field of film restoration and preservation in which Mr. Malkames truly found his niche. His affinity for films from the early days of the industry, coupled with a unique facility for designing, adapting, building and operating cinemachinery, resulted in his single-handedly saving literally hundreds of films - usually too fragile or deteriorated to be handled by then conventional methods. Much of the extensive output of The Biograph Company (and thus the early work of D.W. Griffith) as well as numerous other subjects, was preserved by Mr. Malkames for The Museum of Modern Art. Along with Biograph - his most singular achievement for MoMA was his preservation of the 1930 "Fox Grandeur" epic, THE BIG TRAIL (starring a fledgling John Wayne) from the original 70mm camera negative, which was found to be too shrunken to be copied. Mr. Malkames spent an entire year on the project - from designing and building a special printer, through to the painstaking reproduction of the film. Also of note was his long association with film historian- showman, Paul Killiam - for whom he restored dozens of silent era classics for the Emmy-award winning television series, "The Silent Years" - in which he also photographed the intros with Lillian Gish. Key works by the likes of D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Mary Pickford, John Barrymore, Buster Keaton, Clara Bow and Tom Mix were saved for posterity thanks to his work with Killiam.

In 1979, Mr. Malkames wrote and produced a documentary, THE MOTION PICTURE CAMERA - a loving tribute to silent era cinemachinery, which showcases examples from his own family's comprehensive collection.

He had three children: His daughter, Marty Lawton, predeceased him in 2005 and he is survived by a son, Rick Malkames - also a cinematographer, a daughter, Christine Malkames - a graphic artist, eleven grandchildren, including Bruce Lawton who is a film historian, and four great-grandchildren.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Richard Stapley, the actor who appeared alongside Elizabeth Taylor in "Little Women" and with Gene Kelly in "The Three Musketeers," has died. He was 86.His publicist Alan Eichler says Stapley died of kidney failure Friday at a Palm Springs, California hospital.Born in England, Stapley moved to Hollywood and appeared in a string of films in the 1940s and 1950s, including "King of the Khyber Rifles" with Tyrone Power and "The Strange Door" with Boris Karloff. He took the name Richard Wyler when he moved back to Britain and starred in "Man From Interpol" and other television series. Stapley was also a writer. His novel "Naked Legacy" was published in 2004.Using the name Richard Wyler he appeared in “The Ugly Ones” (1966) with Tomas Milian and it looked as if he might be a big star in the Euro-western genre but his career as a Spaghetti hero was short lived as his following appearances were in lesser known releases and “Rattler Kid” usually makes the worst of the genre lists. I met Richard two years ago at a Hollywood Collectors Show and he told me he learned to shoot a gun and ride a horse from the Sheriff of Riverside County California. Therefore he could ride and shoot before making his western films.

Born 87 years ago in New York, Sandy Kenyon passed away peacefully at his home on February 20, 2010. After serving as a pilot in the Army Air Corp in WWII, Sandy moved back to New York to pursue his career in acting, finally moving to Los Angeles in the 1950's.

Sandy will always be remembered for his passion as an actor and director. He will live on forever in the memories of his family and friends, his theater company and the hundreds of movies, television programs and stage plays he was a part of.

Sandy was predeceased by his beloved wife, Charlotte Blaugrund Kenyon. He is survived by his step-daughter, Janie Short and her children, Ben & Lindsey of Fort Smith, AR., and his step-son Stewart Given and his wife, Susan Levitt Given of Santa Monica. Memorial services will be a family gathering at sea.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Bernard Kates, 87, a prolific actor who appeared on radio, television and stage, including a noteworthy run of shows at the Santa Maria-based Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, died Feb. 2 at a hospital in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., his family announced. He had sepsis and pneumonia.

Born in 1922 in Boston, Kates studied acting in New York and got his break on radio.

After serving in the military during World War II, Kates returned to acting.

He appeared on stage, including Broadway productions of "At War With the Army" and "The Disenchanted," and in live television shows such as "The Philco Television Playhouse" and "Playhouse 90."

Kates went on to land small parts on a variety of prime-time TV series, including "The Asphalt Jungle," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Dr. Kildare" and, more recently, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "3rd Rock from the Sun."

He also had a bit part in the 1961 film "Judgment at Nuremberg" and played Ben Scott in the mid-1960s on the daytime drama "The Guiding Light."

Kates, who enjoyed working in regional theater, acted in several productions at the Pacific Conservatory's Theaterfest in the mid-1980s as well as a 1994 staging of "The Disputation" at the Tiffany Theatre in Hollywood.

Pierce, who grew up in Arkansas and made his films mostly in that state, died Friday at a Dover nursing home, according to Wayne Anglin of Anglin Funeral Home at Dover. A cause of death could not be obtained.

Pierce was born in Hammond, Ind., but moved to southwest Arkansas with his family as a child, according to a daughter, Amanda "Amy" Squitiero. He grew up in Hampton, Ark., and as an adult lived in nearby Texarkana, where he ran an advertising agency. But it was his 1972 low-budget movie that gained him fame.

"He really did change the face of filmmaking," Arkansas Film Commissioner Christopher Crane told the Texarkana Gazette. "With his model, many filmmakers became successful with the drive-in creature feature, so to speak."

The director of the 1999 box-office docudrama "The Blair Witch Project," Daniel Myrick, cited Pierce's film as an influence in an interview with the Tulsa World.

"We just wanted to make a movie that tapped into the primal fear generated by the fact-or -fiction format, like 'Legend of Boggy Creek,'" he told the newspaper in 1999. "That was one of my favorites; it freaked me out when I was a little kid. I was beside myself with fear for weeks after seeing that thing."

"Boggy Creek" was based on a local legend of a Sasquatch-like creature in Fouke, a town southwest of Texarkana, where retailers still capitalize on the fame of what was called the Fouke Monster.

Squitiero said her father's autobiographical notes indicate "Legend of Boggy Creek" was made for $160,000 but ultimately made $25 million after it became a cult hit.

Director and producer Harry Thomason, whose credits include the TV sitcom "Designing Women," grew up next door to Pierce in Hampton.

"Charlie was one of the greatest storytellers in the world," Thomason said. "He had remarkable success when you think of it."

Thomason also praised "Bootleggers," Pierce's follow-up film, as "a very intelligent script with great acting."

Pierce's additional directing credits include "The Town That Dreaded Sundown," "Winterhawk," "The Winds of Autumn," "Grayeagle," "The Norseman," "The Evictors" and "Sacred Ground."

He was also a screenwriter for the 1983 film "Sudden Impact," starring Clint Eastwood.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Actor Helge Herala died February 27, 2010 in Helsinki, Finland. He was 87 years-old.

Herala was a well known comedian and actor whose extensive career included films, theater plays and television series from the 1950s up to the 2000s. Heralan best-known works included the TV series Valehtelijoiden Club and Movie Stars Say, Inspector Palmu, and several Turhapuro-farces.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Nathan Scott, a film and television composer whose credits included "Wake of the Red Witch" and TV's "Dragnet" and "Lassie," died of age-related causes Feb. 27 at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 94.

The father of Grammy-winning saxophonist Tom Scott, Nathan Scott amassed more than 850 credits as a composer, orchestrator and conductor in television and 100 more in films.

He was born in Salinas, Calif., and graduated with a music degree from UC Berkeley in 1939.

He found work in radio, and in 1942, he was named West Coast music director for the NBC-owned Blue Network; shortly thereafter, he was inducted into the Army, where he conducted and arranged on such Armed Forces Radio Service shows as "Command Performance."

Scott was hired in 1946 as a staff composer by Republic Pictures, where he composed, orchestrated and/or conducted dozens of scores, including "Wake of the Red Witch" and "Heart of the Rockies." Later credits for other studios included scores for "Montana Belle" and "X-15."

Scott spent most of his career working in television. Beginning in 1952, he arranged and orchestrated for original "Dragnet" composer Walter Schumann, later taking over as composer on the Jack Webb series. He scored episodes of "Steve Canyon," "Wagon Train," "Rawhide," "The Untouchables," "My Three Sons" and other series of the 1950s and 1960s.

He scored two "Twilight Zones," including the classic 1960 episode "A Stop at Willoughby," and wrote the theme for the 1964 political drama "Slattery's People." He began working on "Lassie" in 1963 and scored nearly all of its episodes through 1973.

He penned choral arrangements for several "Voices of Walter Schumann" LPs on the Capitol and RCA labels. He also arranged choral numbers for Tennessee Ernie Ford's variety show and for albums by gospel singer George Beverly Shea.

In the 1970s, Scott returned to orchestrating for other composers, including son Tom Scott ("Hanky Panky"), Quincy Jones ("The Color Purple") and Stu Phillips ("Battlestar Galactica," "The Fall Guy").

In addition to son Tom, he is survived by his second wife, Frances McCune Scott; a daughter; a brother; and two grandchildren.

Nan Martin, a stage, TV and film actress who played Ali MacGraw's snobbish mother in "Goodbye, Columbus" and was a mainstay on the Southern California theater scene for decades, has died. She was 82.

Martin, who suffered from emphysema, died Thursday at her home in Malibu, said her son Casey Dolan.

Among Martin's Broadway credits are a Tony-nominated role in Archibald MacLeish's "J.B." (1958-59), directed by Elia Kazan; "Under the Yum Yum Tree" (1960-61); and Tennessee Williams' "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" (1976).She also was a mainstay actress in Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park productions in New York in the early 1960s.

For 50 years, beginning in 1955, Martin amassed scores of television credits -- including episodes of "The Untouchables," "The Twilight Zone," "NYPD Blue" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

She also played the supporting role of Mrs. Louder on "The Drew Carey Show" and appeared in more than two dozen films, including "Toys in the Attic," "For Love of Ivy" and "Shallow Hal."

In the 1969 comedy-drama "Goodbye, Columbus," Martin played opposite Jack Klugman as Mrs. Ben Patimkin, MacGraw's unflattering, nouveau-riche mother, who despises her daughter's unambitious new boyfriend, played by Richard Benjamin.

"She was so aloof with me during the shooting," MacGraw said of Martin in her autobiography, "Moving Pictures," "that it wasn't until the last day that I realized her behavior had all been in character."

Mothers, in all their diversity, became a staple of Martin's career, which also included playing lawyer Douglas Brackman's dying mother on "L.A. Law" and fiendish Freddy Krueger's mother (Sister Mary Helena/Amanda Krueger) in "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors."

The maternal roles frequently extended to the stage. In reviewing Tennessee Williams' "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" on Broadway in 1976, then-New York Times critic Clive Barnes wrote that Martin "glitters like a bejeweled snake as the awful mother."

In 1986, she found herself juggling playing the mother in Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa with daily rehearsals as the mother in a Los Angeles Theatre Center production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons."

Martin appeared numerous times on the South Coast Repertory stage, including a leading role in "Odd Jobs" in 1992, for which she won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

One of her other notable roles at SCR was that of Miss Helen in South African playwright Athol Fugard's three-person play "The Road to Mecca" in 1989. That led to her playing the same role -- opposite Fugard himself as the preacher -- at Washington's Kennedy Center; her performance earned her that city's Helen Hayes Award.

"She was one of our superstars," Martin Benson, artistic director at South Coast Repertory, told The Times. "She did a lot of television and all that, but her real love was theater. You could always dangle a part in front of her, and she'd jump at it."

Added Benson, who directed Martin in a number of productions: "She was a grand lady. She had a very elegant, queenly like bearing about her, and yet underneath it all she just a big kid."

Born in Decatur, Ill., on July 15, 1927, Martin was raised in Santa Monica. She was attending UCLA part time when she was chosen for a role in a campus production of "The Gentle People."

Working as a model for fashion designer Adrian, she saved enough money to go to New York, where she made her Broadway debut in 1950, playing a supporting role in the short-lived "A Story for a Sunday Evening."

Martin was married twice. Her first husband, whom she divorced, was screen composer Robert Emmett Dolan, with whom she had a son, Casey.

Besides Casey, she is survived by her second husband, architect Harry Gesner, and their son, actor-producer Zen Gesner, as well as three grandsons.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Bailey, Helen Talbot
April 7, 1924 - January 29, 2010
Our beloved mother, grandmother, relative and friend made a peaceful transition in La Jolla, CA. Under contract with Republic Studios in the 1940's, she was featured in 45 western movies and serials and had a devoted following for decades. A vivacious, engaging, and generous woman who loved her family and friends. Survived by daughter Kathy Hearn, grandchildren Ian and Susana Wolds and relatives Dan and Barbara Darling and family.

Born Helen Darling, she was adopted by the Smith family in 1937 and lived with them until 1941, when she left to live with her brother Dan Darling's family, a milkman in West Los Angeles, and the Smiths moved to Rochester, New York. She attended Emerson Jr. High in Westwood Village, California and University High School in West Los Angeles, CA 1936-1941. Actress Faith Damerque (Kelli Garner) was in the same class and lived across the street from them on S. Carmelina Avenue in Brentwood. Helen was under contract with Paramount in 1942 or '43 and was Don "Red" Barry's leading lady in a few Westerns, then became Paramount's Queen of the Serials.

Helen married Richard M. "Dick" Hearn, a UniHi classmate and returning Navy fighter pilot veteran, in 1945; they moved to South Bend, Iowa where he attended Notre Dame University and earned his degree in Corporate Law before returning to West Los Angeles. They had one daughter before Dick died about 1965. In 1969 Helen married Larry Bailey, owner of a bakery in Northridge, CA. Larry died about 1980 and Helen moved to LaJolla, California.

Celebration of LIfe Sunday, March 7, 2 PM North Hollywood Church of Religious Science.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Legendary Spanish voice dubber and poet Rafael de Penagos died in Madrid, Spain on February 25, 2010. He was 85. Rafael was born in 1924 in Madrid, the son of cartoonist Zalabarado Rafael de Penagos. He made his film and dubbing debut in Barcelon in the early 1940s. He moved and settled in Santiago, Chile and later Buenos Aires, Argentina where he published his first book of poetry. He returned to Spain in 1945 where he acted, gave poetry recitals and studied university courses. In 1964 he was awarded the National Literature Prize for his work Como pasa el viento. Being very gifted in comedy he was the voice of Stan Laurel for re-releases of Laurel and Hardy films to Spanish TV. He later was the voice of Jeremy Brett in the 1980s Sherlock Holmes TV series. Later he would lend his voice for cartoons. Among his Spaghetti Western dubbing he was the Spanish voice of Marco Tulli in 1963's “The Shadow of Zorro”, Joachim Fuschsberger in 1964's “The Last Tomahawk”, Angel Del Pozo in 1967's “Run , Man Run”, Francisco Sanz in 1969's “The Price of Power” and Ezio Marano in 1970s “They Call Me Triniry” among others.

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.